


Taking Care of Matters

by monsieurlefayette (orphan_account)



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Affairs, Angst, Canon Era, Denial of Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Mutually Unrequited, basically Burr cares a lot about Alex and he's just realizing it now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 07:05:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5858989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/monsieurlefayette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander shows up to their meeting covered in bruises and cuts. Burr feels compelled to take care of Alexander, who lacks the humility to receive help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Care of Matters

Aaron sighed as he checked the time again. This man was truly testing his patience. Hamilton was 30 minutes late to their meeting, and it was very important for them to discuss the details of this case they were working on. Despite the aggravation and constant headaches Hamilton gave him, Burr had always felt a soft spot for Alex. He viewed him as a confused, lost puppy that needed to be looked after. Burr had spent years convincing himself that the love he felt for Hamilton was simply out of concern for his friend, and nothing more.

Suddenly, Burr’s office door flew open, a wide-eyed Alexander running through it. He shut the heavy wooden door behind him and leaned against it, panting heavily. “Good god, man! What’s the matter with you?” Burr questioned angrily. But as he moved closer to Alexander, he noticed the smaller man had a busted lip among other injuries, and his anger faded into worry. 

His voice low, Burr asked, “Alex. What happened?” Alex shut his eyes tightly for a moment before regaining his normal composure. He smiled tightly and said, “Doesn’t matter. I’m fine. Shall we get started on the case?” Burr was unconvinced that Alex was ‘fine’ and he refused to drop the matter. Alexander tried to move past Burr to get the documents from his desk, but Burr placed his hand on Alex’s chest, keeping him firmly in place. 

“We aren’t moving on until you explain yourself,” said Burr.  
“I don’t have to explain myself to you! It’s not like you’re responsible for me.” 

Burr’s expression was rock-hard. Alexander rolled his eyes and groaned like an irritable teenager before speaking, “Fine. I guess we’re just gonna lose this case.” That wasn’t the response that Aaron was looking for. When Burr didn’t move, Alex got even more frustrated and pushed him backwards. Taken aback, Aaron yelled, “Hamilton, all I’m trying to do is make sure you’re not getting yourself into trouble. We’re partners! What you do affects my reputation too-”

“I HAD AN AFFAIR, OKAY?” Oh shit. Alex gave up fighting him and answered the questions he hadn’t been asked yet. “I was having an affair with this woman. Her husband was abusive, she had nowhere to turn, and I happened to be there one night and...” Alexander trailed off. Burr’s face only grew more confused, trying to work out how that ended Alex up with a bleeding lip and what seemed to be a black eye forming.

Burr was shocked. He didn’t know what to say, and he let go of Alexander and backed away from him, resuming his seat at his desk. He couldn’t think straight, and his pulse was beating fast. Why did this revelation seem to rip his heart out of his chest? He shouldn’t care that Alexander was romantically with someone; the man was married for god’s sake! Then it occurred to him: he was jealous that Alexander cheated on his wife with someone who wasn’t him. 

Burr’s head spun, and he desperately tried to slow his thoughts. All of a sudden, everything was becoming clear. His years of telling himself he was just ‘being a good friend’ to Alex fell apart in an instant. Alex’s voice tore Burr out of his stream of thoughts. 

“Burr? Burr! Are you even listening? Damn you to hell! Asking me- no, forcing me- to divulge my worst secret to you then not even paying attention. You’re unbelievable.”

“No, Alex, listen- it’s just,” Burr’s words were caught in his throat. He took a breath to buy time, not quite knowing what to say. Then he remembered Hamilton’s injuries. He spoke almost too frantically now, “Wait! You’re hurt!”

“I’m not hurt,” Alex grumbled, putting his hand to his face to try and cover his lip. “I feel fine. Now can we get on with it?”

Burr’s protective side came out and he gave the smaller man a skeptical look. Alex slumped into the chair opposite Burr, who searched his desk drawer for some bandages or rags. Alex eyed him as he did this, but didn’t say a word more. Burr decided to try a new tactic. 

“Alright Alexander. You don’t have to tell me how you got these bruises and cuts. I just want you to be safe.” Alex tensed visibly in his seat, fidgeting, and Aaron smiled. Ah yes, guilt and reverse psychology coming to the rescue. Burr walked around his desk and leaned down to Alexander’s face with a cloth in his grip. He raised his hand to Alexander’s bloody lip slowly, half expecting him to pull away- but Alex remained still. 

Aaron pressed down gently, and his lip must’ve been tender, because Alex took a sharp intake of breath. Alexander looked up at Aaron with a painful expression, and Aaron shushed him sympathetically. After lingering for a moment too long in Alexander’s eyes, Burr quickly spun around and took a deep breath. He poured water from a jug into a glass and dipped the cloth in it as Alexander spoke again.

“I was on my way over here, on time I might add, and my mistress- her husband- they approached me on the street. He asked me where I’d been last Sunday afternoon, and I looked over at her. Maria. She was so beautiful, so helpless. But she didn’t meet my gaze.” 

Aaron returned to Alexander with the wrung out cloth and placed it over his darkening eye. Alex sighed contentedly as the cool sensation gave him some relief. He relaxed into Aaron’s touch, and Aaron stiffened a bit. He was having trouble ignoring these feelings he was having for Alexander. With his eyes closed peacefully, Alex continued his tale.

“So I tell her husband, James, the alibi I already had prepared in case anyone asked my whereabouts whenever I was actually with Maria.” With Maria. The words stung in Burr’s mind. He tried not to think about what she and Alexander got up to in bed, as he kept talking. “He says to me, ‘You lying bastard! Not even honest enough to own up to screwing my wife!’ And before I know it, he punches me in the eye and I fall to the ground. I hear Maria cry out for him not to touch me, and then I hear a slap. He slapped her, Burr! I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.”

Burr looked at Hamilton incredulously and spoke louder than he’d meant to when he said, “You were trying to defend the honor of another man’s wife?” 

“He’s abusive, Aaron! What would you have done? Then I stand up and see him dragging her away, and I grab him by the shoulder and deck him.”

“Alexander, you shouldn’t reciprocate violence,” Burr reprimanded. Alexander ignored him. Silence fell between them again. Burr got out a small jar with some ointment in it to dab onto Alex’s cuts. It stung a bit, and Alexander clenched his jaw and wiggled away from Burr, who sighed.

“Alexander. Be still, please.” 

Alex narrowed his eyes and huffed, “Why are you helping me? You’re not my mother.” The way that Alex spat that word out so bitterly made Burr’s heart wrench, thinking back to the first time they’d met and bonded over being orphans. 

“Because I care about your well-being,” Burr stated plainly. Alexander was tired by this point, and all the fight had been taken out of him. Alex thought back on all the times over the years that Burr had gone out of his way for him; he recalled the lingering stares, and the slight brushes of hands, and he suspected that Aaron might’ve cared for him in a more intimate way. But for once, Alex said nothing. Instead he reached his own hand up to envelop Aaron’s as he pressed a bandage to his cheek. 

Spoken words weren’t necessary to have this conversation. They both knew the implications for their actions, and after a moment, they let go of each other.


End file.
